diff --git a/src/HTML.hs b/src/HTML.hs
index 42efb85..de53ff6 100644
--- a/src/HTML.hs
+++ b/src/HTML.hs
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ elementToHTML (List (L {list_type = Ordered {start_number, style}, items}) attrs
 elementToHTML (List (L {list_type = Unordered {style}, items}) attrs) = T.concat ["<ul", maybe "" handleStyle style, ">", generateLiElems items, "</ul>"]
 elementToHTML (HTML (HTMLTag {html_content})) = html_content
 elementToHTML (Paragraph (P snippets) attrs) = T.concat ["<p", handleAttrs attrs, ">", serializeInlineToHTML snippets, "</p>"]
+elementToHTML (Transparent snippets) = serializeInlineToHTML snippets
 elementToHTML HorizontalRule = "<hr>"
 elementToHTML (Table _ _) = error "TODO"
 elementToHTML (Container _ _) = error "TODO"
diff --git a/src/IR.hs b/src/IR.hs
index 6ecbc3f..3fcec17 100644
--- a/src/IR.hs
+++ b/src/IR.hs
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ data Element
   | -- Markdown only, DJOT will produce a RawBlock with an html type
     HTML HTML
   | Paragraph Paragraph Attrs
+  | -- to avoid breaking generation when swapping InlineText to Element in Markdown parser
+    Transparent [InlineText]
   | HorizontalRule
   | Table Table Attrs
   | -- Djot :::
diff --git a/src/Markdown.hs b/src/Markdown.hs
index 8f69d01..1aff2b3 100644
--- a/src/Markdown.hs
+++ b/src/Markdown.hs
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ blockquoteBlock = do
       -- this dance with optional and notFollowedBy is done so we
       -- aren't accidentally consuming part of a block ending
       (optional ((notFollowedBy blockEnding) *> lineEnding))
-      pure [(Paragraph $ P ret) emptyAttrs]
+      pure [Transparent ret]
 
 -- type of list the parser returns
 -- parser which grabs the prefix for each item of the list
@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ listBlock list_type prefix child_parser_factory nest_level = do
 
       child <- optional $ child_parser_factory $ nest_level + 1
       error "TODO, child list handling works different now, child needs to be combined into content"
-      pure $ LI {content = [Paragraph (P content) emptyAttrs]}
+      pure $ LI {content = [Transparent content]}
 
 unorderedListBlock :: (Logger m, Characters s) => Int -> Parser s m Element
 unorderedListBlock = listBlock Unordered {style = Nothing} unordered_prefix (\level -> unwrap <$> ((try $ unorderedListBlock level) <|> orderedListBlock level))